"Stay down and stop this nonsense!", calls out an angry Kharax.
Richard fires the stun gun again, hitting Sanvil. The man's eyes flutter, as he struggles to remain conscious. At that moment, Kharax pulls the man's leg out from under him, causing the thief to fall without trying to catch himself, and cracking his head on a flagstone, falling unconscious.
"What was he looking for?"
Maruf starts tying the thief up for later interrogation.
"That is a good question." Richard replies to Alpha. "Everyone, check your belongings."
Keeping the stungun handy, he moves to give Sanvil a thorough search, removing all weapons and valuables, then scanning him for magic and removing any other items that radiate an aura. Once, he's done, Richard takes a personal inventory to see if anything of his is missing.
"Anyone have thoughts on how to question him? I can be persuasive, but I've never interrogated a person before."
"The mental processes of organics is beyond my computation. "
Maruf shrugs. "I tied him up, you question him."
"Torracha can make me a bit scarier, but perhaps talking nice may be better. Just cuz we're in a position of power at this point doesn't mean we need to abuse it."
Richard looks a little dubious at the suggestion of attempting diplomacy with a man that was just caught rifling through their stuff, then used deadly force when confronted. However, once the path of aggression has been taken, it just about removes the chance of success for nice words.
With a shrug, he agrees. "Ok. Let's wake him up."
Once Sanvil's alert, Richard will begin a conversation...
"Sanvil Trett. We were just discussing how we should deal with you. Before we consider something harsh, how about you explain yourself?"
Tying up and waking Trett, the man struggles weakly, testing his bonds, then sighs with resignation. "I..I..I was just looking for....tech....to send back to my masters...." Trying to shrug, he looks up. "Nothing personal, just business."
"Who are your masters? What do they want with this tech?"
Masters? That sounds ominous. I wonder if they have something to do with the fires...
"You bought from us before. You could have made an offer." Richard's words are calm, and mostly rhetorical. Alpha's question gets right to the heart of the issue and he's more interested in hearing who these "masters" are before broaching another subject.
"Well....I...uh...work for the Technic League. I'm sure your know, the League has interest in anything technological, deeming most of it their property."
Sannil merely gives Richard an apologetic shrug. "Well what do you mean to do with me?"
The Technic League! Burning circuits, I thought this place was beyond their influence.
Tugging on the edge of his hood, Richard gives a serious look to his companions before turning his eyes back to Sanvil. "I... wait, does the League have anything to do with the fires going out?"
Maruf raises an eyebrow at mention of the Technic League, having only recently immigrated to Numeria and only having heard vague whispers about their presence. "Well if they're behind the fires going out, f!~& them I say!"
Sanvil shakes his head. "No, as far as I know, the League is not involved in Torch's fires going out." The man thinks for a moment, then says. "I have information that might be related to the fire going out. If you agree to let me go, I'll tell you."
"You'll give us that information, as well as a few other good reasons why we should trust you, then we will decide."
"First, think you just gotta keep quiet 'bout how the stuff you properly purchased off us came from. Don't need the League messin' in our bidness here in Torch. Jus' say some barbarian trader or somethin' had it. Leave us an' Torch outta any report."
"It is not logical to trust him. He should be handed to the authorities."
Sanvil holds up his hands. "Whoa...whoa! No need to involve the authorities." He considers for a moment then shrugs. "I haven't had a chance to investigate, but I've noticed some strange things at a warehouse in the southeast part of town. A warehouse owned by Garmen. People sneaking in an out, lights on in the middle of the night.....I don't have anything concrete, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were involved with the flame going out."
"Hmmm.... what do you othas think?", Kharax asks.
"Garmen's up to something you say?" Richard says, dropping his guard and honestly considering Sanvil's words. Looking to the others, he says, "Maybe we should investigate to confirm this before deciding what to do with him."
Turning back to Sanvil, he asks, "If you go with us and help investigate the warehouse it would go far to regaining our trust."
Everyone thinks Sanvil is being honest.
Snavil protects weakly as you begin to search and find, +1 chain shirt, mwk longsword, ion tape, skillslot with a Mark I Knowledge (engineering) skill chip installed, zipstick, 1 dose of torpinal, 1 dose of universal serum, 2 doses of vitality serum, 5 batteries, bedroll, cold-weather outfit, flint and steel, mwk backpack, rations (5 days), spellbook, sunrods (2), Technic League pin worth 100 gp, traveler’s outfit, waterskin, winter blanket, 20 gems worth 100 gp each, 69 silverdisks, 154 pp, 380 gp, 250 sp, 12 cp.
He shakes his head. "Coming with you to the warehouse would be suicide for me....if I were recognized...."
PRICE 100 GP
SLOT none WEIGHT 1 lb.
CAPACITY — USAGE disposable
Ion tape is a ribbon of material tightly wound around a spindle. A roll of ion tape fits in the palm of a hand and comes in a wide range of colors. A single roll contains 50 feet of tape. A single strip of tape is easy to cut through or tear. When wrapped around an object, it has a weak adhesive that keeps it in place. When ion tape is exposed to an electrical charge of any power (including a jolt from a zip stick), the tape bonds together into a single mass of plastic-like material, gaining hardness 8 and 30 hit points. When used to bind a creature, a few strips of activated ion tape require a successful DC 28 Strength check to break. A second jolt from an electrical source causes the tape to revert to its weaker ribbon condition, at which point it can be torn free easily. A strip of ion tape can hold about 5 pounds of weight normally, but when activated via a jolt, a single hardened strip can support up to 300 pounds of weight. The uses for ion tape are many—it can be used to construct basic objects (such as a ladder), patch holes, bind prisoners, and so on.
PRICE2,000 GP
SLOT brain WEIGHT 1 lb.
INSTALL DC 30 IMPLANTATION 1
A skillslot is implanted into the target’s brain, leaving a small port at the base of the skull. This port is covered with a flap of skin when not in use. Once installed, a skillslot has no effect until a skillchip is inserted into the port. An inserted skillchip enhances the user’s ability in the skill encoded on the chip; the magnitude to which the skill is enhanced depends on the power of the skillchip. This does not grant ranks in the associated skill. It takes 10 minutes for a skillchip to adjust itself to a new skillslot; during this time, the user takes a –2 penalty on all skill checks as distracting sensations flood his mind. When a skillchip is removed, its benefits end immediately, but the wearer suffers no ill effects.
PRICE varies
Mark I 400 GP
Mark II 1,600 GP
Mark III 3,600 GP
Mark IV 6,400 GP
Mark V 10,000 GP
SLOT skillslot WEIGHT —
CAPACITY — USAGE —
A skillchip contains a wealth of knowledge and lore concerning a single skill. Skillchips for skills like Craft, Knowledge, Perform, and Profession that have multiple subcategories each encode only one subcategory; a user can have a Knowledge (engineering) skillchip, but there are no general Knowledge or Craft skillchips. In order for a user to access a skillchip’s lore, it must be inserted into an active skillslot (see page 38). The magnitude of the bonus granted by a skillchip varies, ranging from a +2 enhancement bonus to a +10 enhancement bonus, as summarized on the following table.
Model Bonus
Mark I +2
Mark II +4
Mark III +6
Mark IV +8
Mark V +10
PRICE 20 GP
SLOT none WEIGHT 1 lb.
CAPACITY 10 USAGE 1 charge
A zipstick is a small pen-like device used to administer a small jolt of electricity. This jolt is enough to cause 1 point of nonlethal damage with a successful touch attack. A zipstick is used most often to activate or deactivate items that function on ion-bonding technology, such as ion tape.
PRICE 300 GP
Torpinal is a serum that makes the injected subject more cooperative during interrogation. It has a 1-minute onset time. The effects of a single dose of torpinal can be resisted with a successful DC 12 Will saving throw. Additional dose can be used, and often are when the subject succeeds at a save against torpinal. Each dose administered within a 1-minute period forces a new saving throw to resist the effects, with the DC increasing by 2 per additional dose (to a maximum of DC 22).
PRICE 400 GP
A viscous, blue serum fills the receptacle attached behind the nozzle
of this metallic injector. Three small panels on the side of the injector light up one at a time when touched—selecting a color (red, blue, or green) is a swift action. The injector contains only 1 dose of universal serum. Injecting the serum is a standard action that heals the recipient of 1d8 points of damage and has an additional effect depending upon the current color selection. Red grants the recipient a +4 enhancement bonus to Constitution. Blue grants the recipient a +4 enhancement bonus to Strength. Green grants the recipient a +4 enhancement bonus to Dexterity. The enhancement bonus lasts for 3 minutes, after which the recipient of the serum becomes fatigued for 1 hour. If the recipient receives more than 1 dose of universal serum in a 24-hour period, the healing effect still occurs but no enhancement bonus is granted; instead, the recipient immediately becomes fatigued for 1 hour.
PRICE 500 GP
The glass receptacle of this injector contains 1 dose of a bright-yellow serum. When injected into a creature (this is a standard action), the substance grants immunity to low radiation for 1 hour, and a +5 alchemical bonus on all saving throws against other radiation effects for that duration. In addition, it heals 1d4 points of Strength damage caused by radiation poisoning. Vitality serum cannot cure Constitution drain caused by radiation poisoning.
"They sure outfit ya well in the League.", Kharax comments. "So tell us more 'bout this Garmen fella."
"Garmen, the man who runs Silverdisk Hall. Surely you have met him, or at least heard of him. He runs the hall, but has his hands in all sorts of "underground" dealings."
"Yeah, we got that... wond'ring 'bout anything else that could be useful. I mean, any sneaky ways inta his place? Guards? I imagine you did some homework on him."
Alpha sets his optics on the skillslot and the skillchip.
"Why would this Garmen be involved? It is not logical that he would want the flame out."
Garmen... The Silverdisk Hall...
"If Garmen is involved in something it would explain why he was being so generous to us. Encouraging us to frequent his gambling hall would help him keep an eye on us."
Sanvil technology both impresses Richard and worries him.
Such resources. If this is what the League outfits their agents with then we should be very careful with him.
"I think we'll hold on to all this for now. Maybe you can earn some of it back if you prove yourself. If your interest in us is purely business like you said, and the League is funding your purchase of technology here, then perhaps we can both benefit." Then a thought occurs to him. "Something he encountered in Black Hill is affecting Khonnir. Magical healing offers only temporary reprieve. Do you know anything about that? Could it be a technological affliction?"
"Heh, another good question! This is why I think yer the social brains of this bunch, no offense to yer circuitry Alf!"
"Are we gonna go raid this warehouse or what?" Maruf seems ready to go, already pulling out his spear and checking the sharpness of the tip.
1st level- chill touch, corrosive touch, enlarge person, flare burst, magic weapon, magic missile, mount, shield, vanish
0th level- all
Sanvil shrugs at Richard's question. "I have no insights into Khonnir's affliction.
Once the group is rested, Richard's interested in checking out the warehouse, and he dons Sanvil's magical chain shirt for the trip.
Alpha will scribe bull's strength, mirror image and chill touch into his spellbook.
Sanvil continues, "To answer your earlier question. Garmen has his hands in just about every underground or illegal activity in town. Lacking evidence, it is still a sensible supposition."
"If Sanvil is part of the Technic League he will probably turn on us if they demand it, but I don't think the Fire going out here is a good thing for them. They basically run this country, and Torch is an asset only as long as the Fires remain lit. Up until now it has been mostly ignored by the League, but if the Fire isn't restored they might send more agents to investigate on their own. If they do, and those agents go into the Hill, they might decide to take a greater interest in this town, and I don't think any of us want that." He reaches to tug at his long hair, a habit developed to hide the markings on his skull that indicate his android nature. "Right now, I think the best option is to lock Sanvil up in the Foundry while we investigate Garmen and his warehouse. If we find anything there then perhaps Sanvil is being honest about his motivations."
"Regarding future relations, if he truly is just about "business" then we should be able to work out a deal with him that is mutually beneficial. As a member of the League, he has resources and knowledge that we could benefit from, and in return we can offer him continued anonymity and the right to first look and option to buy for any tech we recover from the Hill. I think there is enough still in there to make us all rich, and make him look good in the eyes of his masters. We could even spread the word around that Sanvil is now part of the expeditions to relight the Fires. I'm pretty sure I can fit him into the song I'm writing. It would put some of the credit in his hands, take the focus off of us, and might keep the League from sending others into the Hill if they believe one of theirs is already exploring it."
"How much do you trust this guy? Think I'm da nice guy of this bunch and I want to think we can make Sanvil an ally, but I honestly don't know how we go about that, if it's possible at all."
"It is not logical to trust him. He has betrayed us before, he will do so again."
"He is not an android." Richard replies to Alpha. "Logic does not always apply. Still, I am not saying we should trust him. Now that we know what motivates him, I believe we can convince him that it is in his best interest to be an ally."
Thinking for a second, he tries to put the situation in logical terms. "Sanvil works for the Technic League. They covet technology, and are known to enslave androids. He is operating here secretly, and if we hold that secret we have leverage over him. If we turn him in to the authorities, or get rid of him in some other way, then we lose his expertise with technology, which me might need to relight the Fire. Also, the League will eventually send another person to investigate his disappearance - someone we don't know, won't see coming, and very unlikely to be friendly."